Road to change runs through La Habra

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LA HABRA The half-mile stretch of La Habra Boulevard, between Cypress and Euclid streets, is at once the heart of the city and a snapshot of the harsh effects of the Great Recession.

City Hall, the Police Department, a post office and the library reside on the northeast corner of La Habra and Euclid, the hub of this town of more than 60,000 residents.

But across the street is an empty office complex. For sale signs line the boulevard like billboards on an open highway. La Habra Boulevard itself is, in a sense, a highway: Motorists speed through, from Beach to Harbor boulevards. The few pedestrians on the street wait at a bus stop.

This strip of La Habra Boulevard, the city's downtown, often is described by residents as drab, run-down and needing an infusion of life. Unlike Brea's, Fullerton's or Anaheim's downtowns, La Habra's is viewed as a forgotten corridor of the city.

But now, with the city updating its general plan, there is a movement among some residents and officials to revamp the downtown area – a process that includes rezoning the core of La Habra; partnering with private developers to set up boutique stores, restaurants and other pedestrian-friendly shops to draw people back to the city's center; and ultimately rebranding the city's image as an economic destination.

“This part of the city – the older, sleepier part of town – has largely been ignored,” said Debbie Musser, who has lived in La Habra since 1977 and is a member of the General Plan Advisory Committee. “It needs something other than shoe-repair stores.”

OBSTACLES TO DEVELOPMENT

La Habra Boulevard's development, though, is not easy. The advisory committee is still nine months to a year from finalizing the general plan update, which will map out the city's goals for 20 years.

“We want to create an environment that gives developers a menu of uses they can choose from,” said Michael Haacke, director of community and economic development. “We want them to have flexibility. … We want mixed-use, retail, shared parking.”

The grand vision for the downtown area is, according to members of the advisory committee and Haacke, to reverse the current “over-commercialization” and create higher-density housing – whether condos, mixed-use or some combination – that will attract clothing stores, restaurants with outdoor dining and similar businesses.

“In order for the downtown area to thrive, you need people there,” said Mark Sturdevant, the chief executive and president of the Chamber of Commerce. “You need people clustered together, living together. Then you can have boutiques, restaurants, fashion shops and even art galleries.”

Any development that gets underway downtown, though, is a sizable risk for the city and developers.

“You always run the risk of having an ‘If you build it, they will come' situation,” Sturdevant said. “But if you build it and it's attractive, they will come.”

Sturdevant and others cite the nearby Brio housing development on Euclid Street, across from the Children's Museum, as a prime example. The first phase of homes went on sale March 2, and within an hour, all 15 sold, said Barbara Trachy, vice president of sales and marketing. Brio since has put an additional 37 homes on the market, and all of them have sold.

ARCHITECTURAL VARIETY

The members of the committee, by and large, are looking to create more variety downtown, shifting away from the specific plan from the late 1990s that requires developers to construct buildings in the mission-style mold.

“I would love to drive down La Habra Boulevard and not see beige,” Musser said.

This idea of architectural variety creating a vital economic atmosphere, however, raises a question: What should be La Habra's identity?

The mission-style buildings that pepper the city are an ode to La Habra's roots. The path of the California missionaries runs through the city. The town remains a largely Hispanic community.

“I do think that this area needs a facelift,” said Ruben Mejia, 62, a lifelong La Habra resident and a member of a family that has called La Habra home for at least seven decades. “But I like the mission style. It gives the city a small-town feel.”

Resident Michelle Ramirez watched her boys grow up in the city and, she said, downtown La Habra has not changed.

While she thinks the area needs improvements, she, too, does not want to get rid of the mission-style homes.

Mayor Rosie Espinoza did return requests for an interview.

Sturdevant, though, said that mixing mission-style buildings with more modern designs would work well.

“Not everything needs red tiles,” he said. “Does that mean we have to get rid of everything? No.

“Frank's X-Ray Garage should be preserved. There are other buildings that should be preserved. But there actually isn't a lot to preserve in La Habra's downtown. It needs to be done again.”

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